Experts Suggest Alternatives To Throwing Away Your Old Christmas Tree
WESTFIELD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Christmas trees served us well during the holidays, but in the New Year, they are invariably tossed to the curb and left to be picked up as trash.
But as CBS2's Christine Sloan reported, you might want to reuse your tree to help protect the environment.
Garden expert Jolene Flaagan, of Parker Gardens in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, said instead of recycling, you can put the tree in your backyard and turn it into a small shelter for animals in the snow.
"If you have a fence, you could lean it up against your fence," Flaagan said. "If you have tree at the edge of the yard, go ahead and lean up against the trunk of the tree."
And if provided that you don't live in bear country, "if you have bird seed or something like that, you can scatter around every once in a while," Flaagan said. "They appreciate that too."
You can also use a good pruner to cut the branches -- keeping the needles intact – to cover up outdoor plants during cold winter months.
"Needles, they'll retain their color and their form throughout the winter, whereas deciduous plants with leaves – they turn brown, and crunch up, and just blow away," Flaagan said.
Marietta Hayes of Plainfield said using the branches to cover her perennials could be beneficial.
"Perennials, sometimes I don't take care of them. I just let them go, because it's too much work," she said. "But that sounds like a very good idea."
Another option is to save the branches and make a trellis to support vegetables and plants.
"So I am just going to stick (a branch) in right here (in the soil), and as it starts to grow next year, I am going to go ahead and attach it right to my already-placed plant stake," Flaagan explained.
But Greg Nelson of Plainfield, New Jersey said it all sounded like too much work to be worth it.
"It's too much trouble. It's too cold for that," he said. "I'm just putting it at the curb for the town to recycle."
Looking ahead to next year, experts said the ultimate way to recycle is to buy a Christmas tree with the root ball intact, so that you can replant it in your backyard.
The best time to replant trees is before the ground freezes, and it is not a good idea to do it in the snow.
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